


colours

by waitingformyraggedyman



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-09
Updated: 2016-08-09
Packaged: 2018-08-07 17:31:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7723480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waitingformyraggedyman/pseuds/waitingformyraggedyman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cho remembers Cedric on her wedding day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	colours

**Author's Note:**

> Cedric's death had always devastated me and so The Cursed Child destroyed me with all the mentions and got me thinking of my beautiful otp who were just so young and innocent and still had absolutely no chance against what the world had in store for them. Any and all feedback is appreciated, enjoy!

The sun shone brightly through the open window of the barn's loft and engulfed the pretty young bride watching out of it in rays of light that reflected the brown of her hair and danced off the diamonds at her ears.

Through the large window the ceremony site could also be seen, adorned in white and yellow roses. There were only a few people milling about, all of them hurrying to add the finishing touches here and there. Punctuality had been key for the in-laws and the expectation was that everything would be ready and the guests all seated within the hour, right before the ceremony would start.

Cho Chang took an idle sip of her mimosa, deep in thought. Her mother had banned her from leaving the barn until the time came to walk down the aisle, utterly terrified at the prospect of the groom seeing her daughter before he was supposed to. _Bad_ _luck_ , she'd warned ominously.

That had made Cho raise a skeptical brow- after everything, she didn't know if she believed in such a thing as luck- but she had been otherwise compliant.

She didn't mind staying in the barn, the view was nice and she needed some time for herself. It wasn't like she was nervous, she was sure in her decision, sure of the man who had so sweetly promised to love her forever if she agreed to let him. She was happy.

Not just happy, but at peace.

It had taken her years. The devastation in her final years at Hogwarts, the battle there that followed, had all taken its toll. She'd suffered and lost and loved. She'd _lived_ , and although it had taken time, eventually, she had found herself moving on.

Her eyes found the roses she'd picked out herself and her mind drifted to what it always did when she was met with something yellow.

Yellow meant seekers and snitches. Yellow meant Hufflepuff. It meant Cedric.

Cho had been fifteen when Cedric had been killed. She still remembered the way her heart had hurt, the way the numbness had stilled her thoughts as she had caught sight of her boyfriend's lifeless body. She would never forget.

There had been screaming and crying from everywhere, hysterics from those who had barely known him. And Cho had stood amidst it all, the girl who he had _just_ kissed goodbye after she'd excitedly wished him luck, making not a sound as tears had strolled down her face.

It had scared her. How he had been right there and then suddenly gone forever. How much she missed him. How unfamiliar the world felt after he'd died. How dark.

There had been so many sleepless nights after that fateful final task where the grief would just be too much and she'd curl in on herself, biting her knuckles, trying not to wake the others with her sobs. She couldn't understand why it was so painful. Was it because she had been in love with him?

It was a question that Cho still did not have an answer to.

She hadn't loved any of the other boys she'd dated at Hogwarts. Michael and her had broken up after graduation, preferring their friendship over anything else, there was too much standing between them for her to have ever fallen for Harry, and she wasn't sure she had ever even liked Roger.

Cedric though...sometimes, when she'd been with him, she'd found herself wondering.

He had died before she could ever figure it out.

She knew though, that the feelings had been strong on both sides. If she had ever doubted his it had been completely confirmed when she'd been the one who'd been taken as his hostage during the second task.

She remembered regaining consciousness as they'd hit the surface of the water. Cedric had kept an arm around her waist, guiding her through the water, and had sounded so apologetic and concerned when she'd coughed and shivered.

"You'll be out in a second," he'd promised, reaching the platform a few moments later. He'd waited until their classmates had pulled her out of the water and then jumped out himself, hastily towelling off his hair before he was at her side again.

Her lips had been blue and she'd been shivering so much that someone had produced another blanket for her but she'd smiled brightly at him as she'd teased, "Took you long enough."

He'd laughed and pulled her into his side, warming her with his own body heat.

(Cedric, warm, yellow)

Later, when everyone had mostly left and they'd both finished dressing, they had walked back towards the castle together among the other stragglers.

"I probably shouldn't have been surprised. You're rather slow on a broom as well.

Cedric had stared at her, an amused smile forming on his face at her sudden announcement.

"Is that right?"

She'd smiled playfully at him and nodded. "Mhmm. Although I _would_ appreciate some speed, it would make the Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff games a tad more interesting if the seekers could keep up with each other, don't you reckon?"

This led to them lining up on an open field near the lake, Cedric counting down the start of a footrace.

"3, 2, - hey!"

Cho had taken off at two and Cedric had grinned fondly before breaking into a run. She'd cried out, startled, when he gained on her almost immediately and then laughed delightedly as he'd caught her up in his arms from behind.

They had stayed quiet for awhile, just looking up at the scenery of the castle rising above them. Cho had felt Cedric hide a smile in her hair and had turned in his arms to face him.

"What is it?"

"Who knew I'd be outed by this tournament," he'd been smiling but there had been a slight hesitation there, almost like he'd been nervous.

Cho had not understood and he'd been able to tell from the confusion on her face. "The thing I'd miss the most."

Her eyes had cleared as it had dawned on her and he had tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, his fingers tracing her skin, completely focused on her, mesmerized.

"You," he had said it so softly, looking at her so tenderly that her eyes had begun to tear.

He had touched his forehead to hers as she whispered, "I'll always be glad you asked me to the Yule Ball that night."

It had been his first and last tournament victory they'd shared together, standing beneath the light of the sun (yellow, Hufflepuff, _Cedric_ ) and before the stillness of the lake (blue, Ravenclaw, _her_ ). He had never returned from the next one.

Maybe she had loved him. And it didn't matter because a part of her heart and soul would always be his anyways. They had been young, too young, for such tragedy to pull them apart and Cho knew the only reason she'd been able to move on was by keeping his memory, their memories, even closer to her heart.

It was almost time for the ceremony to start now and she took a final look at herself in the mirror. The sunlight was still streaming in from the window and it lit her up in a warm glow.

Her something blue was the tie from her school uniform, artfully tied around the stems of her bouquet.

It had taken her awhile to get used to flowers again. She had seen enough of them on Cedric's grave. She'd bring them for him whenever she climbed up that beautiful hill to talk to him and always felt the same pang of grief when she'd realize that the flowers would stay and wither away there just like Cedric would.

She had formed the habit of comparing a lot of things to Cedric, which was probably a contributor to why a lot of her relationships in school hadn't worked out.

Roger would yell and fume at her after a quidditch loss and she would find herself wondering if Cedric had ever so much as raised his voice at her. Harry had always seemed so bewildered by her tears and those were the times she'd miss the way Cedric would brush them away, the way he'd hold her.

Everything about being with Cedric had just been simple and warm and tender and sweet. Yellow and blue, she had always thought those colours worked well together in the right shades, the way her and Cedric had because they had been the right fit.

Except, Cho had failed to acknowledge the black that came with Cedric's house colours.

The black that had eventually stripped him of all his light, and left Cho's world without any colour for a long time.

She had stopped comparing her relationships to the one she'd had with Cedric when she'd met the man she would be marrying in a couple of minutes.

Cedric had shown her what she had wanted in a relationship, the gentleness, the warmth. Yellow.

She hadn't had the chance to think of Cedric in rainbows, knowing him and loving him in every way possible, but she had found it in her groom.

Cho took hold of her father's arm as they stood at the end of the makeshift aisle on the grass in front of the barn.

Cedric would always be a part of her, the way she'd learned that magic was through her time at Hogwarts. She would always miss him but whenever she did, she would look at her roses or the lemons in her water jug or the ducklings in the pond and know he was there, he was everywhere.

Her earrings, yellow diamonds in honour of her late boyfriend, shimmered beautifully under the light of the shining sun. She stepped directly into that light as she made her way down the aisle and smiled as it warmed her skin.

He was here as well.


End file.
